The infrared spectrum covers a range of wavelengths longer than the visible wavelengths but shorter than microwave wavelengths. Visible wavelengths are generally regarded as between 0.4 and 0.75 micrometers. The near infrared wavelengths extend from 0.75 micrometers to 10 micrometers. The far infrared wavelengths cover the range from approximately 10 micrometers to 1 millimeter. The function of infrared detectors is to respond to energy of a wavelength within some particular portion of the infrared region.
Heated objects will dissipate thermal energy having characteristic wavelengths within the infrared spectrum. Different levels of thermal energy, corresponding to different sources of heat, are characterized by the emission of signals within different portions of the infrared frequency spectrum. No single detector is uniformly efficient over the entire infrared frequency spectrum. Thus, detectors are selected in accordance with their sensitivity in the range corresponding to the particular detection function of interest to the designer. Similarly, electronic circuitry that receives and processes the signals from the infrared detector must also be selected in view of the intended detection function.
A variety of different types of infrared detectors have been proposed in the art since the first crude infrared detector was constructed in the early 1800's. Virtually all contemporary infrared detectors are solid state devices constructed of materials that respond to infrared frequency energy in one of several ways. Thermal detectors respond to infrared frequency energy by absorbing that energy causing an increase in temperature of the detecting material. The increased temperature in turn causes some other property of the material, such as resistivity, to change. By measuring this change the infrared radiation can be derived.
Photo-type detectors (eg., photoconductive and photovoltaic detectors, absorb the infrared frequency energy directly into the electronic structure of the material, inducing an electronic transition which leads to a change in the electrical conductivity (photoconductors) or to the generation of an output voltage across the terminals of the detector (photovoltaic detectors). The precise change that is affected is a function of various factors including the particular detector material selected, the doping density of that material and the detector area.
By the late 1800's, infrared detectors had been developed that could detect the heat from an animal at one quarter of a mile. The introduction of focusing lenses constructed of materials transparent to infrared frequency energy, advances in semiconductor materials and the development of highly sensitive electronic circuitry have advanced the performance of contemporary infrared detectors close to the ideal photon limit.
Current infrared detection systems incorporate arrays of large numbers of discrete, highly sensitive detector elements the outputs of which are connected to sophisticated processing circuitry. By rapidly analyzing the pattern and sequence of detector element excitation, the processing circuitry can identify and monitor sources of infrared radiation. Though the theoretical performance of such systems is satisfactory for many applications, it is difficult to actually construct structures that mate a million or more detector elements and associated circuitry in a reliable and practical manner. Consequently, practical applications for contemporary infrared detection systems have necessitated that further advances be made in areas such as miniaturization of the detector array and accompanying circuitry, minimization of noise intermixed with the electrical signal generated by the detector elements, and improvements in the reliability and economical production of the detector array and accompanying circuitry.
A contemporary subarray of detectors may, for example, contain 256 detectors on a side, or a total of 65,536 detectors, the size of each square detector being approximately 0.009 centimeters on a side with 0.00127 centimeters spacing between detectors. Such an array would therefore be 2.601 centimeters on a side. Thus, interconnection of such a subarray to processing circuitry requires a connective module with sufficient circuitry to connect each of the 65,536 detectors to processing circuitry within a square, a little more than one inch on a side. The subarray may, in turn, be joined to form an array that connects to 25 million detectors or more. Considerable difficulties are presented in aligning the detector elements with conductors on the connecting module and in isolating adjacent conductors in such a dense environment.
The outputs of the detectors must undergo a series of processing steps in order to permit derivation of the desired information. The more fundamental processing steps include preamplification, tuned bandpass filtering, clutter and background rejection, multiplexing and fixed noise pattern suppression. By providing a detector connecting module that performs at least a portion of the signal processing functions within the module, i.e. on integrated circuit chips disposed adjacent the detector focal plane, the signal from each detector need be transmitted only a short distance before processing. As a consequence of such on focal plane or up front signal processing, reductions in size, power and cost of the main processor may be achieved. Moreover, up front signal processing helps alleviate performance, reliability and economic problems associated with the construction of millions of closely spaced conductors connecting each detector element to the main signal processing network.
In view of the minimal available space, it is also desirable to reduce the number of conductors connecting each integrated circuit chip to external circuitry that facilitates chip operation. Because each chip may perform up front signal processing for 50-100 dedicated detector channels, it is clearly preferable to utilize common circuitry connecting the chip to external circuitry such as power supply, rather than separately connecting each detector channel to that circuitry. Such common connections serve to ease conductor congestion and reduce power consumption.
Aside from the aforementioned physical limitations on the size of the detector module, limitations on the performance of contemporary infrared detectors arise due to the presence of noise intermixed with the signal generated by the detector. In general, such noise may be a consequence of background conditions at the site of the detector, generated from within the detector itself or generated as a consequence of the interconnected electronic circuitry. Unless eliminated from the detected signal, those noise components establish the minimum level of detectivity obtainable from the detection circuit.
Cooling the detector to extremely low temperatures is effective to reduce random electronic activity within the detector and therefore reduce some components of the noise spectrum. Filters and well known electronic signal processing techniques are also effective to reduce background noise levels permitting enhancement of the signal-to-noise ratio of the detector circuit.
Another type of noise that is particularly significant when the detector operates in certain regions of the infrared frequency spectrum is commonly referred to as modulation noise, or "1/f noise." The term 1/f noise generally refers to noise in the semiconductor detector that is due to modulation of the detector conductivity. 1/f noise increases dramatically as the biasing current through the detector increases. Because 1/f noise can be the principal noise component at certain frequencies of operation, it is highly desirable that the detector biasing current be reduced as much as possible while retaining high gain and low power levels in the detector circuit. Though other circuits have been proposed that provide zero bias voltage across the infrared detector to reduce 1/f noise, those circuits suffer from one or more common deficiencies. One of those deficiencies concerns the ability of the circuit to achieve the desired operating point, i.e. at the zero bias condition, uniformly over a large number of inputs, despite differences in the threshold levels of the particular semiconductors incorporated into the circuit. Variations with regard to those threshold levels, as well as variations in the precise resistance of other components may change the operating conditions such that maximum reduction of noise levels is not consistently obtainable without persistent measurements and adjustments.
Another deficiency of contemporary zero biasing circuits relates to the intrinsic topology of the buffer circuits that are interconnected to the detectors. Preferably buffer circuits operate at very small signal levels and generate discernable output signals upon the application of a small signal upon the gate of the device. Thus, power consumption and power dissipation requirements are minimized without sacrificing sensitivity to low level inputs. Some existing buffer circuits incorporate semiconductor devices such as bipolar transistors, which suffer from the requirement that too large a current be applied to the base in order to turn on the circuit, thereby reducing sensitivity. Other circuits that incorporate devices operating in a normally on condition, i.e. above threshold, may draw too much current when activated by a signal responsive to irradiation of the detector.